Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. a maker.

1688		R. Holme Academy of Armory Ch. iii item 68c: Canting Terms used by Beggars, Vagabonds, Cheaters, Cripples and Bedlams. [...] Faker, maker.
1859, 1860		Hotten Dict. of Modern Sl. etc.
1873		Sl. Dict.
1891		Yorks. Eve. Post 15 Apr. 1/7: [The] variety of occupations adopted by tramps is enormous [...] There are ‘mushfakers,’ ‘chaneyfakers’ (menders of china), ‘cadeyfakers’ or ‘grubbers’ (hatters) and so on.
1895		Crowe Aus. Sl. Dict. 27: Faker a jeweller [ibid.] 60: Pot Faker, a hawker of earthenware.
1902		H. Baumann ‘Sl. Ditty’ Londinismen (2nd edn) v: Piratical fakers / Of bosh by the acres, / These muck-worms of trash / Cut, oh, a great dash.

2. a forger; earlier uses implied in bene feaker n., bit faker under bit n.¹

1848		Era (London) 12 Nov. 8/3: [O]ur fighting contributor [...] has thus poetically classed them:- [...] ramps (10), fences (11) and bilkers (12), and fakers (13) and smashers (14).
1895		Truth (Sydney) 3 Mar. 4/7: In England, during the reigns of John and Henry III, the food-fakers had a decidedly rough time of it [...] When a man was convicted of adulterating food [etc.].
1923		Aberdeen Jrnl 30 Jan. 4/6: This book is known in the trade as the 'Faker's Bible'. There is hardly any piece in it that has not been copied.
1970		R. Fabian Anatomy of Crime 193: Faker: Forger.

3. lit. or fig., a performer, an actor.

1850		Man of Pleasure’s Illus. Pocket-book n.p.: You may pipe the crib by seeing a board whereon is inscribed the name of the piano faker, pallavring the swells and yokels that she ‘gives lessons in French without the aid of a master’.
1860		N.E. Police Gaz. (Boston, MA) 18 Aug. 8/1: [of a presidential candidate] Another’s fame must yet be sung; — / I know the ‘faker’ well.
1886		Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 23 Oct. 2/2: The [theatrical] season has begun very ominously. Lots of ‘fakers’ have had to walk during the past week.
1895		Crowe Aus. Sl. Dict. 27: Faker, an actor.

4. (US) a thief.

1851		G. Borrow Lavengro II 29: We never calls them thieves here, but prigs and fakers.
1868		G. MacDonald Robert Falconer (2007) 570: Them pusses is mannyfactered express for the convenience o the fakers .
1872		Era 24 Nov. 4/3: 'Now, ladies and gentlemen,' says the Faker, 'I'm overflowing with animal magnestism. I'm so attractive that rings and watches are often found in my pocket which do not belong to me'men,'.
1889–90		Barrère & Leland Dict. of Sl., Jargon and Cant.
1895		C. Crowe Aus. Sl. Dict. 54: Old Faikers, experienced criminals.
1896		A. Morrison Child of the Jago (1982) 173: The sand-bag faker was moved by particular love of linnets. His spoil was got rid of as soon as the bird-shops opened in Club Row.
1901		Eve. Post (Dundee) 25 Sept. 4/5: The Jewel-faker [...] the works are taken out of watches, and the precious stones re stripped from their mountings.
1915		M.G. Hayden ‘Terms Of Disparagement’ in DN IV:iii 201: faker, a thief.

5. a street salesman of cheap goods.

1889		Century Dict.
1912		R.H. Thornton Amer. Gloss.
1923		N. Anderson Hobo 43: The faker appeals to the crowd. The faker is a salesman. He ‘pulls’ a stunt or makes a speech to attract the crowd. [...] His wares consists perhaps of combination sets of cuff buttons and collar buttons, or some other such ‘line’.
1927		‘Jargon of the Und.’ in DN V 445: Faker, A peddler who attracts a crowd by a speech, song, or acrobatic performance and then proceeds to sell them some wonderful article.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn).

6. a confidence trickster, a fraudster.

1881		Trumble Man Traps of N.Y. 30: New York is celebrated for its large army of petty swindlers, or, as they style themselves, ‘fakers’.
1894		Hull Dly Mail 20 Apr. 3/6: Stannard was wellknown to the officials of workhouses [...] as the 'Soldier Faker'. He was constantly shamming fits.
1910		‘O. Henry’ ‘What You Want’ in Strictly Business (1915) 308: Say, you old faker [...] I don’t know what your game is, unless you want change for a bogus $40,000,000 bill.
1916		J. Lait ‘Canada Kid’ in Beef, Iron and Wine (1917) 174: There he was, a sidewalk curbstone faker, peddling with droning voice two-bit swindles to the Christmas crowds.
1928		M.C. Sharpe Chicago May (1929) 150: I had met an American faker, named Shaw, and an Oxford boy, a good sport.
1934		B. Appel Brain Guy (1937) 149: The grifters, chisellers, fakers, fags, business men on the tear.
1947		R.O. Boyer Dark Ship 227: When I get out of the bucket some of these fakers shoot one of our guys.
1953		‘William Lee’ Junkie (1966) 110: I had made him for a faker when he walked in the room.
1960, 1975		Wentworth & Flexner DAS 130/2: crip-faker n. A professional beggar who pretends bodily injury to gain attention.
1995		C. Hiaasen Stormy Weather 139: Your crew of gypsy fakers hit my wife for seven grand.

7. a pimp.

1889–90		Barrère & Leland Dict. of Sl., Jargon and Cant.
1890–1904		Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.

8. a scavenger.

1896

Lloyd’s Wkly Newspaper 6 Sept. 3/5: James Pearce, 72, a ‘faker’ (collector of odd wood, coal etc. in the streets) [...] went out ‘foraging’ [and] was run over by a butcher’s cart’.

9. (US) one who poses falsely in order to gain status.

1914		K.Y. Rockwell letter 14 Aug. in War Letters (2008) 2: There is also one De Besa, who calls himself a Brazilian count [...] He is a 33rd degree Mason, has traveled all over the world and speaks several languages. Everyone has him down as a faker, but he is certainly most interesting to talk to.
1995		Eble Campus Sl. Apr.

10. (US) a person feigning illness or injury.

1933		N. West ‘Miss Lonelyhearts’ in Coll. Works (1975) 254: He felt better, knowing this, because he had begun to think himself a faker and a fool.
1962		Ragen & Finston World’s Toughest Prison 798: faker – One who shams or pretends.
1989		L. Aparvary Legionnaire’s Journey 230: ‘Heart trouble my foot. You’re a good faker and they fell for it’.